The major effort of this laboratory is the study of the regulation of secretion and biosynthesis of the releasing hormones in relation to physiological control systems. Immunoassay and bioassay methods for TRH, LRH and somatostatin have been developed, and measurements made of plasma, urine, cerebrospinal fluid in animals subjected to various endocrine ablations and treatments, and in patients with known disease of the pituitary and other glands. The effects of neurotransmitter blockers and agonists are also under study. Immunological techniques have also been developed for isolation of labelled amino acids incorporated into hypothalamic peptides by incubated hypothalamic fragments, and by subcellular preparations. The effects of hormones and neurotransmitters on releasing factor biosynthesis will also be studied. In the area of pituitary-thyroid physiology, studies will be made to the nature of the defect in the "sick euthyroid state," and the role of the lung in the formation and trapping of thyroid hormones. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: TRH distribution in brain and urinary excretion following "Thyrotropic Area" hypothalamic lesions in the rat. Jackson, I.M.D. and S. Reichlin. Program 57th Annual Meeting Endocrine Society, New York City, pg. 96, 1975, Abstract number 91. Prolactin Regulation in Galactorrhea-Amenorrhea Syndromes. Boyd, III., A.E. S. Reichlin and R. Nuran Turksoy. Submitted to Annals of Internal Medicine, 1975.